In the early 1900s, the concept of traveling by air appeared utterly impossible. The notion of soaring through the air like birds seemed a mere dream. The first air travel occurred on December 17, 1903, when the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made the first controlled and sustained flight in the Wright Flyer, marking the start of modern aviation. This pivotal moment unlocked the door to a new era of transportation, eventually making passenger flights a reality.
Have you ever wondered about the origins of passenger flights? When did the first plane take to the skies, and how much did people pay for the privilege? Let’s take a look at the dawn of commercial air travel.
The world’s first commercial passenger flight took off on January 1, 1914. Operated by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, the flight connected two cities in Florida: St. Petersburg and Tampa. Piloted by Tony Jannus, the journey covered 34 km in a mere 23 minutes.
The ticket for this inaugural flight was auctioned for a staggering $400, which translates to over Rs 6,02,129 today. Following the auction, a standard fare was set at $5 for the twice-daily, six-days-a-week service. This equates to approximately $100, or around Rs 8,600 in today’s currency.
The aircraft, a flying boat weighing approximately 567 kilograms, was transported to St. Petersburg by train. Measuring 8 metres in length and 13 metres in width, it could accommodate a single passenger.
Although air travel is commonplace nowadays, as millions of people zoom across the globe every day, there was a time when the idea of transporting passengers through the skies seemed unimaginable. Humans, with their ingenuity and relentless pursuit of progress, overcame the obstacles of aerodynamics, gravity, and flight mechanics and turned this fantasy into a feasible achievement.
